More Like This

Preview

This book explores ‘secular-nationalism’ and its relationship with the two great ideologies of modernity: secularism and nationalism. In this introduction, the most critical problems of modern subjectivity are analysed along with the deeply problematic nature of the assumption that ‘individuation’ inevitably results in the dissolution of community attachments. The chapter also examines nationalism as a paradigmatic form of this new community with links to modern subjectivity; how this experience differs substantially from the European experience; the question of ‘minority cultures’ and their...

This book explores ‘secular-nationalism’ and its relationship with the two great ideologies of modernity: secularism and nationalism. In this introduction, the most critical problems of modern subjectivity are analysed along with the deeply problematic nature of the assumption that ‘individuation’ inevitably results in the dissolution of community attachments. The chapter also examines nationalism as a paradigmatic form of this new community with links to modern subjectivity; how this experience differs substantially from the European experience; the question of ‘minority cultures’ and their extremely problematic relationship with the project of nationhood; the problematic concept of a ‘totality’ that gives rise to both the idea of a nation and that of ‘world history’; and the problem of the so-called opportunism of minority cultures, focusing on two specific cases—one in relation to nationalism from India, and the other in relation to ‘world history’, based on the Balkan experience.